Community engagement manager Marissa Jacobs examines bamboo in a large pile of debris removed from Mounts Botanical Garden west of West Palm Beach on September 15, 2017. (Bruce R. Bennett / The Palm Beach Post)

PBC Irma costs: $100 million in damage, $27 million to haul debris

Palm Beach County’s Solid Waste Authority expects to spend about $27 million to clear debris left in the wake of Hurricane Irma, the authority’s executive director has told county commissioners.

Most of that money should be reimbursed to the county from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state of Florida. But Solid Waste Authority Executive Director Mark Hammond said the county shouldn’t expect to see reimbursement dollars flowing this way anytime soon.

“Unfortunately, it could be over a year before the Authority receives reimbursement,” Hammond wrote to commissioners in an email on Tuesday. “The authority has yet to receive reimbursement for Hurricane Matthew which impacted us last year around this time.”

The authority, which has about $26 million in collection reserve accounts for unincorporated Palm Beach County, is “exploring short-term borrowing options to cover the costs of Irma in order to retain sufficient reserves for next year’s hurricane season,” Hammond told commissioners.

The authority expects 87.5 of its debris removal costs — about $23.6 million — to be reimbursable, Hammond said. The authority will seek to get 75 of its debris removal costs back from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and another 12.5 percent back from the state of Florida.

Meanwhile, with the initial estimate of damage to properties in unincorporated Palm Beach Beach County set at more than $100 million, the County Commission on Tuesday passed a resolution waiving permit and expedited review fees for residents attempting to rebuild after Irma.

“This resolution will authorize the Building Division to expedite reviews and issue permits to begin recovery and repair without charging any fees for these services,” the county said in a statement announcing the waivers.

The fee waivers extend to March 26, 2018. After that date, the county will compile a summary of the fees waived. The county was unable to provide an estimate for how much the fee waivers will cost in lost revenue.

“This is an excellent example of local government done right,” Commissioner Melissa McKinlay said of the fee waivers. “This is tremendous.”

Through Tuesday, 520,733 cubic yards of vegetative debris have been removed in Palm Beach County.

Some of the largest municipalities in the county are also seeing progress in debris removal: 60,437 cubic yards of vegetative debris has been removed from West Palm Beach, 30,778 cubic yards from Boynton Beach, 12,359 cubic yards from Wellington and 12,119 cubic yards from Royal Palm Beach.

Those figures represent debris taken to Solid Waste Authority sites. Some communities, like Wellington, have taken debris to local sites for mulching, chipping and later transport. Including debris taken to Solid Waste Authority sites and to local sites, Wellington has removed 51,000 cubic yards of debris, according to Assistant Village Manager Jim Barnes.

Municipalities are expected to pay the Solid Waste Authority an estimated $9 million to have debris from their localities brought to SWA disposal sites, Hammond said.

Solid Waste Authority officials continue to urge county residents to be patient as crews attempt to clear roads and neighborhoods.

Authority spokesman Willie Puz pointed out that Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in 2004 “generated a similar amount of yard waste and took six months to remove. Hurricane Wilma in 2005 also generated about 3 million cubic yards of material that took 4½ months to collect. That is why we keep asking PBC residents to be patient during cleanup.”

Puz stressed that the cleanup will be faster and safer if residents put garbage and recyclables out by 6 a.m. on regularly scheduled days. All vegetative debris is to be put in its own pile and other construction storm debris is to be placed in a another pile.